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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

A Trick To Get Your Resume Past Applicant Tracking Systems

By Vivian Giang

When you apply for a job at a larger firm, there's a high chance that your
resume will be scanned by a filtering software for words related to certain job
vacancies.This kind
of automation process will also reject your resume if it doesn't "meet
traditional, business-dictated document formatting," writes Rick Gillis in
his bookJob!:
Learn How to Find Your Next Job In 1 Day.

Here are
some formatting rules that Gillis says job seekers should follow to create a
filtering software-friendly resume:

Do not place your contact information in the header of your
resume, because filtering softwares can be set to ignore headers and footers so
there is a risk this information will be deleted.

Choose a conservative font such as Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, or
Calibri. Gillis says that serif fonts, such as Times Roman or Cambria may be
rejected by screening software.

Do not use any script fonts.

The smallest font size to use for the body of your resume should
be 11 point. "Any smaller and you're probably asking for trouble."

No graphics or logos.

Do not format using tables.

No borders.

A one-inch margin top and bottom is best.

Do not use any lines that cross the entire page from margin to
margin, because "some filters have been created that will reject a
document for nothing more than having a single line run continuously across the
page," he writes.